Populist Party of Maryland
Encyclopedia
Ballot access
Ballot access rules, called nomination rules outside the United States, regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is either entitled to stand for election or to appear on voters' ballots...
for the 2004 Ralph Nader presidential campaign
Ralph Nader presidential campaign, 2004
Ralph Nader ran for the office of U.S. Presidency in the 2004 election, as he also had in several previous elections. In 1996 and 2000, Nader was the candidate of the Green Party; in the 2004 election, however, he ran as an independent candidate. He received 463,653 votes, for 0.38% of the total vote...
. Unlike such groups in other states, the PPMD organization has survived beyond 2004, laboring to field candidates for local political offices. In 2006, Populists launched a campaign for governor of Maryland, nominating Chris Driscoll, their state chairman, and only member, as their candidate. Driscoll chose Ed Rothstein, a Baltimore labor organizer as his running mate. The Populist candidates emphasize the Populist alternative to Liberalism and Conservativism, tax cuts for working people through the Tobin Tax
Tobin tax
A Tobin tax, suggested by Nobel Laureate economist James Tobin, was originally defined as a tax on all spot conversions of one currency into another...
, a "split-rate" land value tax, employee- or consumer-owned electric companies and municipal utilities (banned by Maryland state law since the late 1990s under energy reforms enacted by the Democratic General Assembly
Maryland General Assembly
The Maryland General Assembly is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Maryland. It is a bicameral body. The upper chamber, the Maryland State Senate, has 47 representatives and the lower chamber, the Maryland House of Delegates, has 141 representatives...
), and promoting government promotion of employee ownership and control of workplaces through Employee Stock Ownership Plans
Employee-owned corporation
An employee share ownership plan is the practice of companies giving staff members shares in their company as part of their salary....
.
Origin
Ballot access
Ballot access rules, called nomination rules outside the United States, regulate the conditions under which a candidate or political party is either entitled to stand for election or to appear on voters' ballots...
is more readily available by forming a new political party than by filing as an independent candidate.
These "Populist Parties" are inspired by 1890s American political party of that name
Populist Party (United States)
The People's Party, also known as the "Populists", was a short-lived political party in the United States established in 1891. It was most important in 1892-96, then rapidly faded away...
and have no connection to the late-twentieth century Populist Party
Populist Party (United States, 1984)
The Populist Party was a political party in the United States between 1984 and 1996. It was far-right and often white nationalist in its ideology...
, which ran candidates such as David Duke
David Duke
David Ernest Duke is a former Grand Wizard of the Knights of the Ku Klux Klan an American activist and writer, and former Republican Louisiana State Representative. He was also a former candidate in the Republican presidential primaries in 1992, and in the Democratic presidential primaries in...
and Bo Gritz
Bo Gritz
James Gordon "Bo" Gritz is a former United States Army Special Forces officer who served in the Vietnam War. His post-war activities notably attempted POW rescues in conjunction with the Vietnam War POW/MIA issue have proven controversial. Gritz lives near Sandy Valley, Nevada with his wife...
and was widely regarded as a racist, white supremacist organization.
In Maryland, the Populist Party only succeeded in putting Nader on the ballot after challenges from the Maryland Board of Elections and the local Democratic Party
Democratic Party (United States)
The Democratic Party is one of two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. The party's socially liberal and progressive platform is largely considered center-left in the U.S. political spectrum. The party has the lengthiest record of continuous...
. The PPMD submitted a petition of nearly 15,000 signatures on August 2, a number more than sufficient to achieve official party status and a ballot line, but this was rejected under a local ballot access law as a number of the signees had moved between counties since their voter registration. On September 20, the Maryland Court of Appeals
Maryland Court of Appeals
The Court of Appeals of Maryland is the supreme court of the U.S. state of Maryland. The court, which is composed of one chief judge and six associate judges, meets in the Robert C. Murphy Courts of Appeal Building in the state capital, Annapolis...
found the restricting law unconstitutional and ordered the Board of Elections to accept the petition for Nader and Camejo.
Continuation
The party conceived a "Unity Campaign" with the idea of bringing together Green PartyMaryland Green Party
The Maryland Green Party is the state party organization for Maryland of the Green Party of the United States.The Maryland Green Party qualified as a recognized political party on August 17, 2000, since that time the party has grown dramatically and as of June 30, 2007 there were 8,108 Greens in...
, Libertarian Party
Libertarian Party of Maryland
The Libertarian Party of Maryland is the Maryland affiliate of the Libertarian Party. The state chair is Robert S. Johnston III.- External links:*...
, and Populist voters in support of the fusion ticket of U.S. Senate candidate Kevin Zeese
Kevin Zeese
Kevin Zeese is an American political activist who has been a leader in the drug policy reform and peace movements and in efforts to ensure a voter verified paper audit trail. He was on the ballot as the nominee of the Maryland Green Party for a U.S. Senate seat during the 2006 election, receiving...
, a founder of the PPMD and 2004 press secretary for Ralph Nader.
According to Chris Driscoll, the state party chairman, the party plans to run candidates for municipal, county, state and federal seats, under the slogan "Democracy and a Better Paycheck Too." The Populist Party of Maryland's rank and file and leaders have drafted a program calling for an end to the "corporate crime wave," cleaning up widespread political corruption in the capital city of Annapolis, and enacting legislation favorable to employees, employee-owned businesses and small business owners, small landlords, the small minded and normal sized owners also.